Schools

Lace Students Learn the Power of Kindness in Anti-Bullying Initiative

Students will get bi-weekly lessons this year in treating each other with respect.

Ugonna said she was up to the challenge—putting all the toothpaste back in a tube her classmate Dylan had just squeezed out. If the fifth-grader succeeded, former teacher Dean Rodkin said she would give Ugonna a $50 bill.

Despite a valiant effort, Ugonna couldn’t do it. While the toothpaste freely came out when Dylan squeezed the tube, it gathered in gobs around the opening when Ugonna tried to force it back in.

A similar thing happens with words, Rodkin said.

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“Once they’re out, they’re very difficult to take back,” she said.

Rodkin shared the message Friday during a assembly, which kicked off a yearlong anti-bullying initiative.

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Lace Principal Marty Casey said that while the school doesn’t have a huge bullying problem, it’s important to be proactive.

“We have to be role models and give kids tools to resolve conflict and teach them to treat each other kindly,” he said.

Every two weeks, teachers will integrate an anti-bullying lesson into the day’s activities, Casey said. The students will also attend monthly assemblies with an anti-bullying focus and regularly participate in team-oriented activities in gym class.

Third-grade teacher Emily Heise, who’s spearheading the program, led Friday’s assembly by asking the students what they had learned during anti-bullying classroom activities that week.

The students responded with refrains of “Treat others the way you wish to be treated,” “If you can’t say something nice, then don’t say anything at all,” and simply, but powerfully, “Be kind.”

Heise showed the animated short, “For the Birds,” which depicts a group of small, similar-looking birds picking on a bigger bird that doesn’t fit in with the flock.

The little birds soon learn that picking on the bird that’s different can have consequences for everyone.

“This year in the hallways, classrooms and assemblies, it’s going to be up to you to make the right choices and be kind to each other,” Heise said.


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